The All Progressives Congress(APC) has issued a word of advice to two pro-biafra groups, The Indigenous people of Biafra(IPOB) and Movement for the actualization of the sovereign state of Biafra(MASSOB).

The ruling party, in a statement released on Thursday, advised the groups to join a political party or form a new one in order to ‘push their cause’ rather than opting for secession. This is coming a day after the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum(AYCF) issued an ultimatum to Igbos to leave all 19 northern states before October 1st, 2017.

In the statement, signed by the spokesman of the party, Bolaji Abdullahi, the APC condemned the move, describing it as undemocratic.

The statement read in part;

“As a party, we submit to the inalienable right of citizens and groups to agitate for a legitimate cause. However, there are lawful laid down procedures for any form of agitation in a democracy. We observe that the nature and content of recent agitations clearly transcend the boundaries of the law and exceeds the limits of freedom of speech,”

“While agitations on many contentious issues in the polity are normal and key ingredients of the participatory democracy which the APC stands for and defends, such agitations must be peaceful and show respect for the constitutional rights of other citizens. The national assembly, the courts and several lawful avenues are available to citizens, groups and sundry interests to make a change, seek redress and advance legitimate causes. Therefore, we call on agitators to either join a political party which shares their ideology or form a new party to push their cause.

“The APC strongly condemns any utterance, ultimatum or actions that threaten our corporate existence as a country. The party is confident that our security agencies will investigate and prosecute promoters and sponsors of these provocative, divisive, inciting and undemocratic declarations and actions.”

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